Creative Agency Secrets

Had a fantastic evening (I always do) at the BIMA dinner “The future for PR in a digital World” with Jamie Galloway, Director of Digital Media, from COI speaking.

I took a couple of clients Hugh Birley from Lexis and Lorraine Jenkins from Wildfire PR (sadly got blown out last minute by Mat Morrison). We made up a strong PR contingent separate from the mainly digi-types otherwise represented!

Jamie spoke based on some work he’s done for the Cass Business School a dissertation about how clients have created silos of information based on the medium of delivery - TV, Press, Digital and this leads to isolation of messages and confulsion for consumers. Overall he thinks OTL agencies now have a decreasing influence on the marketplace

In his Governmental world, ministers are leading conversations on how we should engage with social media. [this is far more advanced than I had expected]. Traditional agencies are not aware of online conversations that are happening and this represents risk to them and theiur clients who rely solely on their guidance for marketing execution. In his view, the Government needs tio be where the conversations are happening.

In Jamie’s view, PR specialists are fantastic at research and crafting a message. They understand issues, message immediacy and have a great ability to react fast. And good PR is both open and consultative. Therefore PR people are a ‘helpful’ runway for advertising, particularly digital advertising. In fact, it’s a perfect skills fit.

Agencies should be working to integrate more closely with PR. [Mark Adams, working with me at Pembridge, tried hard to persuade Advertising agencies to buy PR teams and clearly he was ahead of his time because he failed to find buyers from OTL businesses.]

Interesting job movers - Jimmy an ex-10 Downing Street webmaster has joined Freud Communications. Antony Mayfield is at Spannerworks. Daniele Fiandaca from Profero didn’t wholly agree saying that PR techniques don’t work online. And Jamie agreed but countered with the observation that advocacy for brands works best when it comes from a PR agency much more effective than from a digital or online media agency.

Further clarifying the fit between PR and digital, Jamie cited the tight targetingt of audience research and understanding, the ability to build networks offline where PR is good and online where digital leads. PR is less good aty measurement compared to online where he thinks the ‘gold standard’ has been set. [this squares with Andrew Walmsley in Marketing this week who says “The easy results achieved by search in improving the accountability and effectiveness of advertising have created one of the marketing phenomenons of the century.”]

Jamie also likes the fee structure of PR agencies where they are pre-agreed or set as hourly rates enabling realy understanding where value is applied. And there’s an active involvement at senior level. Hugh Birley agreed with this saying that when PR works well it is because it’s honest counsel.

Felix Velarde asked how online copes with negative PR and Jamie said that he thought this was untapped opportunity because PR agencies aren’t looking at this area. It is important to know when to respond and when not to. Print media has to check its sources but online (blogging) media does not have the same responsibility. Mike Teasdale reminded us that Amazon is now a social media space because new listings now attract reviews from people with real names not avatars and they are rated as reviewers. You can clearly see the % of good and bad reviews.

Clare O’Brien agreed saying that there is a time and a place to respond and she advises her clients to ‘pick their battles’. Being in an immature industry populated by ‘excited’ people, wading in has its risks. This can lead to cul de sacs and pointless arguments [what Mike called “Dad Dancing”!!! touche]

To summarise “Digital offers high involvement strategies to PR in real time” and its important to know where the conversations are going on.

On the tube at Kings Cross this morning, circle line platform towards the City and I saw a pile of 6 books stacked neatly against the wall.

Alan Greenspan’s autobiography, a book about Citroen, a novel…. Some with bookmarks and pages marked.

I looked through the lot and then stood back waiting for my train. And noticed another lady do the same thing.

Were we being secretly watched? Or had the owner been arrested and left his books behind?
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

The contrast that I experienced this weekend between two conferences couldn’t have been greater.

I actually spent my time at the Amateur Rowing Associations’s annual coaching conference in a third-rate hotel in Coventry. A traditional menu of speakers spread over 2 days with a row-show of vendors alongside plus an awards dinner to celebrate the Coach of the Year.

contrast where Lloyd and Will spent their time - BarCampUKGovWeb. Blimey…

[BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.]

I decided to liveblog the ARA gig…. posted a couple of notices up on the rowing forums around the world and decided to do it via my client, Rowperfect, who offered their news page for the purpose. (it worked - 3x uplift in site visits over the weekend and today). At the conference the head of coach training came up to ask me specifically not to blog any questions put to the man in charge of the GB international team - saying “in case they are contentious”. Which I agreed…. Clearly they spent the week with their knickers in a twist.

Compare that to the fabulous free-form list of speakers and long list of speaker slots with encouragement for everyone to participate and contribute. plus every attendee and their blogs, a list of who was blogging, flickring, a Google email grouplist, Facebook page…..

I wish I’d been there. Says it all, really!

[afterthought: Should we run a BarcampforOnlineMedia?  Answers on a postcard….]

Thanks to Damien Mulley and Peter Kim for this link….to wired magazine’s diagram of the lifecycle of a blog post.

Read it.

I got rather excited that the canny Daily Telegraph had signed up Sir Martin to blog for them from Davos. I thought we would get some real deep insight to get our teeth into…

Best so far is

My random poll indicates about two thirds concerned about the inadequacy of FED and US government action. One third agreeing. To be fair they’re probably damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Nice…. Ok. But then I go to Brand Republic to check out setting up a blog (Thanks Andrew Japp) and frontpage headline is

Sorrell and Levy trade barbs over Google partnership.

And so why isn’t there anything on his blog about his point of view setting his side of the record straight…. that I would gladly get on an RSS feed for regular updates. What is currently there is frankly rather stale.

Here’s what they actually said

 ”What Publicis is doing represents a little bit of a concern that they didn’t get the technology right. I think Maurice is acknowledging a bit of an Achilles heel when it comes to technology.”

Levy hit back at his rival: “I’m sorry Martin said that — it’s really cheap, but it’s probably the result of his lack of understanding of technology.

“He’s a financier, I’m an engineer, and you can see the difference. I’m pleased with what we have done, and I’m sorry that my dear friend has not understood it.”

When top bloggers complain publicly about not being able to work or use a bit of software, it is clear that the world will quickly try it for themselves, and spread the word.

i am not a techie… but I am reasonably competent at using technology. But long ago, I learnt to apply the “David Baker Test“.   I was working in-house doing marketing and was trying to get 14 operational departments to write a chapter of the business plan - in the same format.  Not as easy as it sounds.

David Baker was my acid test.  He was a fantastic deal-maker but didn’t really do paperwork much.  If I could get him to understand what I was seeking, and he delivered it, I had succeeded.  He represented the lowest common denominator.

Doc Searles’ blog post on Microsoft’s Live.com maps feature, fails to pass the David Baker Test…. in a major way.  He explains it here

It’s amazing to me that Microsoft doesn’t make live.com search any easier. Take the maps side of live.com. It beats the crap out of Google Maps in at least one hugely helpful area: “bird’s eye” views — from four different directions……Maps, and Geo in General, is one place where Microsoft could open up and leapfrog Google in features and usability. Hey, why not?

And here’s the killer…

[Later…] I’m looking for a way to show the birds-eye view to another person here at the Berkman Center, and I’m failing to find it. So are they. And they’re using a Windows workstation, even. So we’ve got maps.live.com flunking not just the Obviouness Test, but the Easiness Test too.

And the David Baker Test too, clearly!

My family is partly Dutch and today I have been reading the family society magazine, MishpaGazette.
A fascinating article about Struikelstennen (stumble stones). These are the product of a German artist Gunter Demnig who make brass plated cobblestones and lays them in the road or pavement outside the houses from which Jews were deported in WW2. The stones are engraved with the Date of birth, date of deportation and place where the person was murdered.
Over 10,000 stumble stones have been laid in Austria, Italy and Hungary as well as the first Dutch ones in Borne: laid on 29.11.07. These include Jews who worked for our family factory, Spanjaard Textiles.
What a great reminder linking world history with local village homes! Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

[update] Thanks to Ben Laurie for finding me the Wikipedia entry for  Stolpersteine (German word for stumble stones), which I edited to include Netherlands section.

I met Mark Lesbirel of Creative Match earlier in the month - we first met at a BIMA event about three years ago when he was just setting up the site.   It is now one of the key communication and resource tools for the Creative industries.

I get their weekly email newsletter which has a range of articles, competitions and information plus there’s the great listing resource for you to get your agency onto the search side of the site.  And I believe many people find jobs through the adverts hosted there.

Mark has asked me to write a blog on the site focusing on Business Development for creative agencies.  It is called “New Biz Development Blog”.  Here is my first post.

Thanks for the opportunity, Mark!

The Telegraph (canny folk) have signed up Sir Martin Sorrell as a blogger to cover the Davos World Economic Summit.

In his post on 22nd Jan he says

Seems to be total disregard for the stock market meltdown. Not only a disconnection between the financial markets and the real world at the moment, but the new media world too.

All new media models seem to depend on advertising for their future, but very few are willing to reveal their advertising revenues. Monetising, or in English making money, is difficult, especially with social communities, when they don’t join up for commercial reasons and really want to connect. What we used to call writing letters to one another.

Seems the man has a sense of humour!

Hannah Locke has kindly asked me to join a new group for Marcom Professionals online.  A social media site for people who speak your language.

I am joining as a ‘blogger’ and I hope to be online there soon.